Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Silk therapy...warning: major splurge ahead

Yesterday I had what can only be referred to as the worst day ever. After feeling frustrated with student teaching when I had no idea what to do during a fight, I left to go downtown and transfer buses to go to class. I stopped at the public library where I knew that Boutique Knits, the knitting book I've been waiting for for over a month was finally on hold for me. I went in, paid my fines, and even bought myself a cheer-up coffee and then went to the bus stop. I just missed the bus I usually take to class and sat down to wait for the next one, thinking that it wasn't too cold and besides, I had lots of wool on (ha!).

I wasn't waiting five minutes before a woman started abusing her daughter for horsing around at the bus stop. I'm talking grabbing her, shaking her, screaming about what "mother fucking stupid kid" she was and slapping her, all the while yelling about how people would tell her to stop abusing her kid but she didn't care. A few minutes later she yells at me for "looking at her." Then she threatens the guy next to me with the knife she supposedly had in her pocket saying that when that comes out "she won't stop." Christ. I had no idea what to do and just froze like a useless idiot, feeling incredibly depressed when my bus drove away and I made eye contact with that little girl, still waiting and crying, thinking about how I was just another adult who failed her that day.

I went to class and was bored and shaken up only to find out afterward that my health insurance coverage is ending starting next year because my birthday is coming up. Fan-damn-tastic.

Clearly: Worst day ever. I resolved to haul ass down to my favorite LYS. I was going to feel better, and in perfect American fashion, chose to cheer myself up through consumerism. Here is my therapy:

Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple 100% spun silk, in American Beauty. I already have a pattern in mind: the Vines and Leaves Scarf.

Unfortunately, silk highs only last so long and this morning I woke up nauseous and feeling sick all day, probably psychosomatic considering I'm an anxious person, but feeling terrible nonetheless. I missed student teaching, but luckily they have off school tomorrow and Friday, so I have a long weekend to feel better, collect my bearings, and well, knit.

Finally, an update on my Meret:It looks like something that fell off a sheep in a dirty, mangy, clump (Do sheep get mangy?). I'm using a yarn I got at an open air market in Ohio, close to my hometown. It's *clearly* handspun in that sometimes the thickness of the yarn goes from "Bulky?" to "basically sewing thread" which annoys the cats out of me, but is a characteristic I've seen in some commercial yarns as well. I got it in a gigantic hank hanging off a wall, and you know, call it the novelty of the whole situation of being surrounded by miles and miles of people's junk and finding yarn, but I got it for cheap too! In any case, as you can see, it looks terrible. That being said, I'm allowing the blocking process to redeem it. It is a lace pattern which makes blocking inevitable, but I'm hoping it will smooth out the gauge madness issues as well.

Speaking of blocking, I have surrendered the cowl to the blocking process, where she lies now in wait. It was just too scrunched up and uneven on the edges.

Well, here's to better days and much more silk, I'm off to take an exam!